


Like a Melody in My Head

by larreh



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-28 22:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larreh/pseuds/larreh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haynes Academy of Performing Arts is the school of any musician’s dreams, achievable only through talent and, of course, wealth. Harry is a gifted vocalist with financial struggles and Louis is a slacker musician from a rather prosperous home. However, when the opportunity to compete for a full-ride scholarship arises, both Harry and Louis choose to sign up; one of them for the sake of testing his skills, the other in desperation to find a solution to his money issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Harry fell back onto his couch, a small groan escaping his lips. He had spent the past two hours extremely involved in his Musical Theory textbook, to the point where he jumped in surprise as his phone buzzed loudly from the coffee table. He almost thought to wonder who could be attempting to contact him, seeing as he had barely made any friends during his first two weeks of uni. It was with that thought that he realized it was most likely just his roommate- and best mate- Niall checking to see if he needed anything before returning from his lesson. Setting his textbook aside, Harry lazily lifted his phone to eyelevel, rubbing his eyes to see the foggy screen with slightly better clarity.

u hungry? makin a coffee stop

Harry smiled at how considerate his only friend from uni could be when he tried. The temptation for coffee was strong, seeing as he had to finish this chapter of his textbook and it was getting late, but somehow Harry figured he’d sleep better and be more attentive if he passed up on the caffeine. ‘I’m alright, thanks .x’ was Harry’s reply, and with that he tossed the phone aside in favor of returning to his studies.

On a normal day, Harry would have gladly stayed up late studying and dealt with the consequences later. He would have spent half the time entranced by his textbook while simultaneously sipping his over-caffeinated drink, and the other half of his time goofing off with Niall in any way imaginable. However, today was not a normal day. Today was the day Harry received arguably one of the most disconcerting letters of his life and had to do a lot of reevaluating that only lead to copious amounts of stress. This letter he had received stated a lot of things that Harry did not quite understand, but among it all the message was clear. Its overall purpose was to inform (or remind) Harry of his lack of financial aid, except the words were put in a way that left no room to wonder what could be done. Harry could either pay the costs or leave the school of his dreams.

In most cases, the administrative board would never be allowed to permit a student so financially unstable to enter such a prestigious school, but Harry’s case was a rare one. Basically, Harry reeked of talent. He had an extremely unique and desirable voice that many schools were eager to get a hold of, the only issue being that there were no scholarships left by the time Harry had a chance to apply. It was entirely devastating and Harry knew more than anything that Haynes Academy was the only place he could truly envision himself attending, which is why he pulled together every last pound of what he made working at his town’s bakery all through high school and put it all into funding his first semester of schooling. He had almost forgotten about his delicate situation until this horrible reminder of a letter had come for him, bringing him back to reality and away from the immense joy he had found in the learning atmosphere of this school.

Harry sighed. He supposed he should be grateful for the opportunity in the first place. He honestly did not think he was among one of the potentially most talented vocalists of his generation, but that did not mean he was about to inform people of his own concerns. If people were willing to believe he was an amazingly gifted singer, it only made things easier for Harry academically. It wasn’t something he ever bragged about or even brought up as casual conversation, yet the majority of students on campus seemed to know of the ‘vocal prodigy’ known as Harry Styles. Ninety-nine percent of the time it was unfortunate and kept Harry from meeting new people. Most classmates believed they knew the type of person Harry was just from hearing about his undeniable talent. They viewed him as cocky, a teacher’s pet, unapproachable. Harry used to believe that people had an interest in befriending people who were known to have a unique skill, but the only thing he had experienced at his own university was distaste towards him when no one even knew him, really. Harry would call it jealousy, but that seemed presumptuous to him. He figured it was just because this was a performing arts academy and things were a million times more competitive. At a normal university, he envisioned himself being approached by many people and praised. That’s fantasy versus reality, Harry figured.

The soft click of his dorm’s turning door handle snapped Harry from his thoughts. Niall slipped in carefully, both hands clutching coffee cups and using his teeth to hold a bag of what Harry assumed were crisps. He watched with newly found amusement as Niall made his way over the counter and dropped off a number of items, making no move to assist the Irish boy.

“Thanks for the help, Haz. You’re a real saint.” Niall mumbled with feigned irritation as he ripped open the bag of crisps and reached in.

Harry just shook his head and stood, walking over to take a seat in front of the counter. “I thought I told you I didn’t want anything?” He pointed to the additional cup of coffee, quirking an eyebrow. Niall just grinned as he swallowed down his snacks.

“Don’t be silly, that isn’t for you. I just needed extra caffeine tonight, don’t ask why.” Niall shoved away his seemingly fattening meal and pulled his bag onto the counter, shuffling through it. “I did find something else for you, however.”

Harry watched the devilish smirk play out on Niall’s lips as he pulled out a sheet of paper from his bag. “What exactly did you find, then?” Harry tried to muster up the excitement he’d been lacking since he received his letter. Of course, Niall knew all about that by now. It was hard to keep secrets from Niall, and even harder if he happens to be your roommate.

Niall cleared his throat as if to read whatever was on the sheet to him, before seeming to make up his mind and hand it to Harry. “Read it and weep. Weep tears of joy and gratitude.”

Harry took the paper, sparing one final skeptical look at Niall before scanning it. As Harry continued to read, the intention behind this became more and more clear, to the point where Harry thought he could kiss Niall out of sheer joy. The paper was, in fact, something Niall ripped off a bulletin board in passing. It illustrated all the requirements and fine details of Haynes Academy’s most universally well known competition for aspiring musicians. It was like any other performance-based competition, where students show off their talents and get judged accordingly, except this had an award that was practically designed for someone like Harry. It guaranteed that the winner of this competition would get their entire college tuition paid for however long the student chose to attend. It was honestly a godsend. The only problem being that Harry wasn’t the only talented student in a school of 6,000. Harry quickly shook any negative aspects pertaining to this, knowing he had to keep his chin up and get busy.

Niall must have been watching Harry’s expression change from one of disinterest to something indescribable, because he was already laughing. Harry looked up, almost beaming. “Niall, this might be the greatest thing anyone has done for me.”

Niall only laughed harder at that. “I’ll be sure to scout more bulletins for you, then. Who knows, maybe they advertise relationships, too?” He winked before turning back to his food, realizing he could eat and be praised simultaneously.

A laugh almost escaped Harry as well before it dawned on him that he should get working on his audition and application right away. At the moment it seemed as though nothing else mattered. Harry shook his head at how quickly things seemed to be turning up for him and decidedly took a deep breath, knowing that he can’t risk getting too bold and jinxing his incredibly good luck.

After all, who knows? There could always be someone equally as capable of winning this award with half the effort and even less of a need.

\--

And there was.

Louis Tomlinson was seated in his apartment across from his two favorite lads in the world, Liam and Zayn, as they humored him with the idea of the most seemingly unnecessary competition Louis had ever heard of.

“I can’t believe this joke of a competition gets so much recognition. Personally, I’d need a lot more than a lifetime uni tuition to get me to put in the effort it takes to be considered for a spot in this.” Louis shook his head, an amused smirk ghosting across his lips as he criticized the bulletin sheet in front of him that Zayn had been kind enough to bring over to them.

“I don’t know, mate, some people would kill to have a spot in this.” Zayn shrugged, clearly not caring either way. It wasn’t as though he would ever even consider entering in the first place. Louis was clearly aware of that.

Louis couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Anyone who needed this much financial aid wouldn’t be permitted into this school in the first place, and everyone knows that. This is the same as an elementary talent show. The ad board just requires a different name to attract the attention of other universities. It’s all for our entertainment, basically.”

Liam sat across from Louis and beside Zayn with a rather displeased expression. It was clear to Louis that Liam thought this was a wonderful opportunity and whatnot, being the saint that he is.

“Come now, Li, don’t tell me you’re actually in favor of this. Hell, I could compete and be equally as deserving as any of these other pretentious students that sign up.” Louis continued, knowing Liam took a bit more persuading than Zayn, who seemed completely indifferent.

Liam just stared at Louis, much to his discomfort. “If it has nothing to do with you, then just leave it, Louis. Honestly, I-“

Zayn quickly interrupted Liam, the prospect of an idea evident in his brown eyes. “Wait! Louis, that’s a hilariously genius idea!” He looked somewhat involved for once in this conversation, and neither Liam or Louis could bare to ignore his outburst. Both boys stared at Zayn, waiting for him to continue. “Liam, what if it does have something to do with Louis?”

At those words Liam’s eyes only widened a bit. “Come off it, Zayn. That’s ridiculous and completely unnecessary.”

“Lou said it himself! This whole competition is unnecessary, so why don’t we sign up an unnecessary contestant?” Zayn’s eyes gleamed with amusement. Louis finally caught on, however, blinking a few times.

“You can’t be serious. Louis doesn’t put that much effort into his studies, let alone something he deems stupid.” Liam continued to shoot down the idea, and Louis figured it was probably for the sake of someone less fortunate than Louis who deserved the prize, when in reality Louis couldn’t recall a single person at this school that had any money troubles. “Right, Louis?”

Louis found he didn’t quite know how to respond to Liam. He knew he would be chastised for agreeing with Zayn, but he couldn’t deny that it would be hilarious to prove what a joke this entire competition was. “This sounds sort of fun, actually.”

Liam’s jaw dropped and Zayn practically punched the air. Louis spared Liam a guilty look, but Liam didn’t seem to find it quite genuine. “I think you’re going to regret this, Louis, especially when you see the opportunity you’re stealing from so many people.” Liam spoke softly, and he would have inspired some feeling of sadness out of Louis if it weren’t for Zayn’s cheeky comment.

“That’s assuming he wins, of course.” Zayn just grinned from his seat, completely set on watching this whole thing unravel. Louis could see it in his eyes and he felt pleased to know that at least he wouldn’t be the only one gaining something out of this, even if all it happens to be is entertainment.

Louis stood from his chair to get ready for bed, offering one final promise before getting ready to kick Liam and Zayn out of his apartment.

“There’s nothing to assume about it, Zayn. I’m going to win.”


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haynes Academy of Performing Arts is the school of any musician’s dreams, achievable only through talent and, of course, wealth. Harry is a gifted vocalist with financial struggles and Louis is a slacker musician from a rather prosperous home. However, when the opportunity to compete for a full-ride scholarship arises, both Harry and Louis choose to sign up; one of them for the sake of testing his skills, the other in desperation to find a solution to his money issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to start off by pointing out that I don't know why I did the prologue in past tense and this chapter in present tense, but just think of the prologue as a flashback introduction and the rest of the story going on presently and it should help make up for my writing sins. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy this chapter and feedback is greatly appreciated since this is my first story and I honestly don't really know what I'm doing. heh.

It is 9 AM when Harry sets out to sign up for the Haynes Scholarship competition. It’s cold outside, and wet, and incredibly cloudy, but that doesn’t ruin Harry’s mood in the slightest. Ever since Niall presented him with that flyer, the world has been looking brighter. Given, it really was only two days ago, but since then Harry has managed to befriend some kid in his Lyric Composition class, talk to his counselor about his financial plan, get it accepted (or at least an extension on his deadline that matches the time of the competition), and actually arrive at breakfast before the buffet closes. These three things might not seem like much to any average person, but for Harry to make a friend other than Niall while holding his infamous reputation of a cocky prodigious teenager is a major achievement in his social life. Arriving at breakfast on time is just as grand of a notion, since he normally sleeps in and has to hope that Niall remembered to pick something up for him. That rarely works out, however, considering whether or not Niall actually remembered to grab extra food to bring to Harry, or to snack on as he makes his way to the dorm. However, the real victory over the past few days is the deadline extension. It gives Harry a chance to focus on school work without additional stress and reminds him that he actually has a chance of remaining here instead of hopelessly packing his bags and returning home to his mother a failure.

That chance that Harry feels so glad to have seems to flicker before his eyes and grow weaker as he approaches the crowd of people taking turns at putting their names on an incredibly thick stack of papers. Harry hadn’t spent too much time considering how many people really do sign up, but now he sees it all live and in the flesh. At least a hundred people are crowding around the signup sheets, each of them wielding a pen and waving it around ferociously as though it matters who puts their name on the list first. Harry had thought getting here early would get this task out of the way fairly quickly, but now he is beginning to wonder if he should come back later because there is no way he is willfully walking into a crowd of people holding raiser sharp ballpoint pens. If that makes any logical sense.

Which is why Harry finds himself incredibly thankful with Mr. Murs, his very own Music Theory professor, comes out of his office to break up all the commotion. “All right guys, you either have to line up in an orderly fashion or be escorted out of here to sign up later. The choice is yours.”

The students, once a roaring mess, now fall into what sounds like complete silence to Harry, but is in fact their indoor voices. He makes a mental note to thank Mr. Murs and put some extra effort into his class in order to show gratitude for the opportunity to sneak further towards the front of the now assembling line while students are too busy trying to figure out how to form it. Harry finds he isn’t the only one with that same idea when a head of feathery brown hair swoops in front of him right as he nears the signup sheet. Annoyance builds up in his chest and Harry begins to realize just how hungry he is and how much he wants to just scribble his name down and go find Niall, and how that keeps getting delayed by incompetent students not letting him through.

Later Harry tells himself it’s probably because of the loud rumble of his stomach that he acts out the way he does. “Hey mate, mind waiting your turn?” Harry asks impatiently and a bit hypocritically if he’s being honest with himself.

“Because you did such a fine job at waiting yours, right?” the boy in front of him replies in a light tone, although Harry thinks that might just be his natural voice. He wonders if the boy is a vocalist, before remembering that he doesn’t have time to be curious, only irritated. Harry readies himself to snap back with something clever, when the boy turns around, apparently finished writing his name down. “I don’t understand why all you screeching teenagers are falling over one another to get to this sheet like it might save your life or god knows what.”

Harry was about to comment on how he is just as much of a teenager as the rest of them, whether that’s actually true or not seeing as there are plenty of people in their 20s here, when he makes the mistake of locking eyes with the other boy. Harry’s string of accusations at the apparently older lad die on his tongue as he gazes into those perfect blue eyes, momentarily forgetting just how arrogant the owner of them really is. “My life sort of does depend on it.” He retorts stupidly, forgetting whatever clever response he initially had planned.

The older boy rolls his eyes. “Right.” He replies, his ton clearly implying that Harry is being melodramatic and immature and it really should rile him up, but the smoothness of the boy’s voice makes it hard to concentrate on the ill intent of the words.

It’s only when Harry realizes he’s watching the boy walk away that it dawns on him just how entirely rude that whole conversation (could he really call it that?) was, and his irritation springs back in full power. He angrily turns to the list of names, pulling out his own pen, and stops right before the pen makes contact with the page. Instead, he glances to the name right above his, determined to remember just who the arrogant boy is, and not because he is devilishly handsome but purely so that Harry can laugh when the boy and his cocky attitude don’t even make the callbacks. Or so he tells himself.

Louis Tomlinson. Harry tries to remember where he’s heard that name before and ends up concluding that his dad probably created Toaster Strudel or something equally as irrelevant. He brushes it off for now and quickly writes down his name with the sinking realization that the amount of time he’s spent fuming over Louis not only made the people behind him quite impatient, but it also made him quite close to missing breakfast.

With that thought in mind, Harry rushes off to find Niall and hopes that, just this once, his best friend remembered to save him breakfast.

\--

“How’d it go?” Niall manages through a mouthful of food, eyes wide and curious.

Harry had made it just in time to grab himself the last of the bacon, deeming that a successful breakfast and proceeding to sit with Niall, who he assumed is on his 3rd omelet. Now, Harry can sense it, came the quizzing stage, where Niall asks him absolutely any question that crosses his mind. Harry likes to think of this as a mental exercise to get his brain going before class because it’s easier than accepting that his best friend is a nosey prick. “I didn’t think the simple task of writing my name on a sheet of paper could be so infuriating.”

“Like you’re back in kindergarten again, struggling to write your name and figure out which direction the H should go before you realize it looks the same way no matter how you write it?” Niall snickers to himself and Harry resists the urge to tell him that was a bad joke.

“No, in the way that you’re in kindergarten waiting for the teachers help when suddenly the annoying teacher’s pet raises his hand and claims that his was up first.” Harry mumbles, crunching on his bacon like its name is Louis Tomlinson.

Niall actually laughs at that and even Harry has to admit that he seems to be getting worked up over nothing. “Come on mate, you can’t be telling me that you’re angry someone cut you in line.”

“I’m not angry someone cut me in line! I’m angry Louis Tomlinson cut me in line.” Harry adds extra emphasis to the name, like it’s some awful taste on his tongue. He isn’t sure if the bitterness towards Louis is because he is an arrogant wanker or because he is an attractive arrogant wanker, but Harry tells himself it wouldn’t make a difference either way (it would).

Niall just looks at him like he doesn’t know who that is, and doesn’t really care. “I bet he’s a shit musician” is all Niall offers as comfort to Harry’s nerves, but that’s all it takes before Harry is smiling again.

“Yeah, I bet.” He agrees, grabbing some more bacon from his plate. A ten second interaction is hardly something Harry should allow spoil his day. He tells himself he should focus on the more positive aspects, such as the fact that he is now signed up to audition for the most prestigious scholarship he’s ever heard of and should probably figure out what song he is going to be doing that with.

“So did you see anyone you recognized?” Niall continues, because quiz time is clearly not up, and it’s moments like these Harry wishes Niall had signed up for more morning classes.

“Yeah, a few people. Like that Cher girl we see around campus a lot.” Harry answers with little to no interest, just enough to stall Niall until he can find something better to do.

“She’s fit.”

“I guess.”

“If you’re into that.”

“Into what?”

“You know, girls.” Niall says, doing a horrible job of suppressing a grin.

Harry rolls his eyes. It’s not like he has ever up and told Niall he might not be as straight as Niall originally believed, but after the 4th time Harry passed up on some girl Niall tried to set him up with, suspicions were well rising. Harry guesses that Niall assumed the first two girls weren’t Harry’s type, and that he just didn’t like the third because she seemed really into Harry because of his “story”. It was when Harry rejected the 4th girl that Niall exclaimed that he “didn’t know a pickier person” and “would need to start optioning guys”. Harry had tried to be unresponsive, but he must have been extremely so because Niall easily picked up on the tension and has been trying to get it out of him every chance he can.

Harry will gladly tell Niall of his sexuality… the moment he is sure of it. Because as of right now, Harry doesn’t know if he’s bisexual or pansexual or call-it-what-you-want sexual. He just knows there are certain guys that get his blood boiling and his lower regions stirring with excitement he didn’t know he possessed for people of the male gender.

Although, Harry is pretty sure Niall is convinced Harry is gay no matter what he says, which is why Harry doesn’t bother to react to the call out and instead continues to answer the original question. “Ed was there, too. You know, that guy I managed to befriend in my Lyric Composition class?”

Niall looks incredibly disappointed that his attempt to get a confession from Harry has failed once again. “The ginger? Won’t it be awkward competing against your only friend besides me?”

“He’s a nice lad, I don’t think it’ll be weird.” Harry counters, although that does strike some concern.

Niall seems to be done with the questions, however, and instead is now staring across the dining hall and grinning madly. Harry is about to ask what he’s so happy about, when Niall begins calling loudly, “Oi, Liam! Hey! Come here, mate!”

Harry turns around to find whoever Liam is and to make sure Niall isn’t trying to set him up at breakfast, when he spots someone approaching them who definitely isn’t Liam. Harry spins back around, eagerly fighting for Niall’s attention while the blonde lad continues to ignore him and call over his friend. Harry hears two seats slide out and before he knows it, Niall is listing off introductions.

“I haven’t seen you in forever, Liam, what happened to keeping in touch?” Niall scolds, although his expression is nothing close to reprimanding. Harry spares a glance at Liam, who is sitting there looking awfully ashamed of himself. “Anyway, this is my friend and roommate Harry. Harry, this is Liam. And who’s your friend, Liam?”

Harry is well aware who his friend is. He’s been well aware since he saw the two walking towards his table, but now he is refusing to look at Liam’s friend because Liam’s friend is not his friend and he doesn’t want to have breakfast with Liam’s friend and he won’t have breakfast with Liam’s friend and Harry is about to leave the table he is being forced to share with Liam’s friend and-

“It’s nice to meet you, Harry.” Liam interrupts Harry’s mental meltdown, possibly doing him a huge favor. He notices Liam’s extended hand and takes it, giving it a quick and polite shake and even managing a smile, still not looking at the boy seated beside Liam. “Oh, and let me introduce you boys to one of my best mates, Louis.”

Harry doesn’t have time to stop the loud sound of realization that escapes Niall’s mouth, and it’s utterly humiliating because now it is so clear to Louis that Harry had mentioned their meaningless encounter and it is so clear to Harry that he needs new friends. “So that’s Louis! Yeah, don’t worry, Li, Harry already knows him. But hey, I’m Niall!”

Harry could smack him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he glares with all the intensity his normally sweet green eyes can muster, except Niall doesn’t see him because he is too busy shaking hands with Louis and smiling and acting like life is beautiful when life is only beautifully embarrassing.

“So I see your friend- uh, Harry- mentioned me?”Now that Harry is looking, he can honestly say that Louis’ smirk at his statement is the most annoying thing Harry has seen in his  
life and he can swear he isn’t exaggerating at all (maybe a little).

“Oh yeah, you were the first person he mentioned. Right, Hazza?”

“Actually I mentioned the dumb kid in my kindergarten class first.” Harry hopes that Niall can hear the way he’s grinding his teeth at him.

“Ohhh, that’s right. He compared you to some kid in his kindergarten class.” Niall smiles proudly, and Harry wonders if he’s doing this on purpose. Louis just looks disturbed.

“So this is the kind of person I’m competing against… someone who gets upset because my name is higher up on some list than his. I’m telling you, Liam, this school is full of spoiled brats.” Harry hears Louis whispering to Liam and it’s honestly all he can do not to flip the table and walk away.

“I’m not spoiled.” Harry mutters, half hoping Louis doesn’t hear.

Whether he heard or not, Louis doesn’t show it. Instead, he simply stands and offers a nice smile at Niall and Liam. “Well, I ought to be off. Don’t want to miss class. It was great meeting you, Niall.”

Harry wishes he hadn’t looked up. Wishes he hadn’t caught that flash of amusement and superiority Louis’ eyes had shown when they locked on him just now. If anything, it only made him angrier, and the worst part was, he only has himself to be angry with, because if he hadn’t gotten upset over someone stepping in front of him in line, none of this would have happened.

He blames his hunger.

And he blames the attractive arrogant wanker.

But right now, he just blames Niall.

“Ow! Dammit, Harry, what was that all about?!” Niall exclaims as Harry whacks him over the head, momentarily forgetting that Liam is still sitting right across from them.

“Oh, just about how you can’t keep your mouth shut for a minute and don’t feel satisfied until you’ve humiliated every ounce of me.” Harry replies mock-casually, trying to control himself.

Niall has the nerve to smile. “You wouldn’t care if he wasn’t so fit. Why didn’t you tell me he was fit, Harry? Hmm?”

And Harry gets it now. Niall had known what he was doing. He was trying to embarrass Harry on purpose as a form of punishment not only for choosing not to tell him about Louis’ good looks, but also for not coming out and telling him about his attraction to guys. He wanted to watch Harry get riled up and humiliate himself in front of Louis the way any girl would in front of her crush. Not that Louis is Harry’s crush, but the point is still the same. Niall had been testing him, and it was mean and unfair and completely genius all in one, because now Harry feels like a total idiot for acting the way he did earlier at the signups, and even more so for the way he did now. And Niall knows that… and Liam knows that now. And if Liam knows that…

Harry’s eyes shot up to meet Liam’s. “Hey, I’m sorry. That was totally wrong of me, please don’t get the impression I’m some monster with a crazy temper.” He couldn’t risk Liam telling Louis that he was acting like a total girl instead of how Louis already views him, which is as an immature kid.

Liam looks at Harry with understanding, and it feels both weirdly comforting and relieving. “It’s quite alright. I was about to apologize for Louis’ behavior, too. He’s normally a really chill guy. He just… thinks this competition is a bit stupid.”

“If it’s so stupid, why is he doing it?” Niall jumps into the conversation, and Harry finds himself thinking that’s the first smart thing Niall has asked all day.

Liam sighs, eyebrows furrowing in a way that makes him look like a puppy dog and, okay, Harry finds himself liking Liam a lot. “I was against it, but you can’t really stop Louis once he sets his mind to something. Basically, he thinks the whole scholarship is a joke and the competition is only to attract the attention of important people to the school and give it  
the prestige it currently has. Louis thinks that no one who actually made it into this school would need that much financial aid, so he’s using this as a way to assess his skills.”

Well- Wow. Okay. Harry almost wants to laugh at that philosophy. It feels almost like a slap in the face, to know that people think that students like Harry would never be allowed in this school. To know that they think the only way to success in this place is through money. And not even one’s own money, but their family’s money. And he knows most people at this school must think this because Louis so clearly thinks this and he is the perfect example of this school personified. It’s hard to hear that everyone Harry is competing against won’t even need this, yet the one person who does, stands a very small chance to get it. It’s hard, and it hurts, but Harry can’t simply go around telling everyone how financially unstable he is and how he actually needs the money because that’s more humiliating than anything that’s ever happened to him in his life.

Niall must notice Harry’s inner turmoil because he’s putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder, which is as comforting as Niall gets, really. “That’s…”

“Selfish, stupid, yeah, I know. That’s what I told him.” Liam bites his lip. Harry thinks he looks like he has more to say, but at that moment Liam pulls his phone out to check a text. “Hey, I have to go. Class and all. Hopefully I’ll talk to you guys soon, yeah?”

Harry nods as Liam stands and Niall waves him off happily before turning back to Harry. “So… I’m guessing you don’t want to beg Louis to drop out of the competition by telling him your sob story and hoping he has a heart?”

“What? No!” Harry can’t even take that as a joke. “I’m going to take him down the good old fashion way. Through competition.”

“That’s the spirit!” Niall grins, stealing the last strip of bacon off of Harry’s plate.

“Yeah. Besides, it’s weak to have your friends fight for you. Liam’s too good of a guy to be hanging out with people like Louis.”

“Technically, through Louis’ perspective, there isn’t a flaw in his plan. I mean it’s hard to imagine anyone getting in here without loads of money. Unless they’re a prodigy like you. And then again, people can be rich and prodigies.”

Harry thinks Niall sounds too smart when he wants to. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

“Yours, of course!” Niall puts his hands up defensively. “I’m just saying don’t get too angry.”

Harry nods, knowing that’s the right advice. If he managed to get over the way Niall embarrassed him earlier long enough to listen to what Liam had to say, then he’ll get over this. Although there is no way Harry won’t be getting Niall back for that. The competition is too soon for him to stay angry, anyway. Nothing is more important than winning this, and Louis is just another competitor among many that Harry will have to beat. No more and no less.

“You know what the most ironic part is, though?” Niall stares at Harry, appearing almost thoughtful.

“What would that be?”

“I don’t really think Louis cares whether you’re a vocal prodigy or not. I think he views you the same as everyone else. Kind of like you’ve always wanted… except this is the one time it won’t be working in your favor.”

Harry hates how right he is. “I like you better when you don’t think.”

Niall laughs, and normally Harry would join in, but his heart just isn’t in it at the moment.

And it’s all Louis Tomlinson’s fault.

**Author's Note:**

> If you see any potential in this fic please let me know, feedback is always appreciated. :) Considering maybe possibly adding in some ziam later on if this gets any sort of response. Enjoy! xx


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